Why Is Your Marketing Agency Not Getting New Clients?

December 12, 2017

So your marketing agency has not seen the influx of new customers for a long time now and you have to make peace with your existing ones only. Your anxiety keeps increasing with every passing day, worrying about the impact on your revenues if any of them decides to leave too.

You may have tried every possible trick you know for bringing in clients but to no avail. You might be getting leads, but they are not converting despite your relentless pitches. Sometimes the prospect might seem interested and you think that you have nailed this pitch, but the result still comes out as negative.

The importance of serving your existing clients is well established in sustaining any company. But without constantly bringing new clients on board, your business can’t grow and scale up.

Getting new clients is easier said than done and many businesses often struggle to do so, given the surge in competition. They often resort to help from marketing agencies for the same, which makes it quite ironic when your marketing agency itself is not able to fetch more customers.

If it all sounds familiar to you and desperation is creeping in, it’s time to do some root cause analysis and rethink your basics. The primary reasons why you might be stuck in this situation are as follows.

1. YOU ARE DIFFICULT TO FIND/APPROACH

While you are in need of new clients, many businesses out there are in desperate need of a good marketing agency. This equation can be balanced if these companies can find you easily enough. It may have happened that when you were improving the inbound leads and optimizing conversion rates for your clients, your own website went ignored.

Do make sure that visitors can easily find your contact details and your lead generation form is simple to fill. Importance of live chat for website or a live support software can’t be stressed enough to resolve the doubts and queries of the prospects then and there so that they convert fast.

2. YOU DON’T LEVERAGE YOUR EXISTING CLIENTS

There is no better way of getting more customers onboard, then asking for them within your existing client network. If your current customers are satisfied with your work, they’ll be more than happy to recommend you within their own circles. Use the power of these referrals to find new clients in a steady way and that too without spending any dollars on costly campaigns.

3. YOU ARE IMPOSING INSTEAD OF ABSORBING

Listening is the key skill that every marketer should have. Your client might not be as technically proficient as you are and might face difficulty in explaining what they actually require to be done. Keenly listen to them, understand their requirements and then propose your solutions. If you start off with what you can do even before the client has finished telling their needs, you can’t expect a happy ending to your pitch.

4. YOUR OFFERING IS UNDIFFERENTIATED

Businesses prefer to hire those agencies that have already worked in the particular industry or segment that they belong to. If you are a generalist who is not able to understand the specific pain points of the client’s industry, you lose a great deal of edge to your competitors who might have more specific experience than you. Show your clients the testimonials that belong to their industry, and try to build a niche for your agency.

5. YOU ARE NOT DOING YOUR HOMEWORK

It is a no-brainer that your presentation should not be a generic template. It should be modified for each and every client that you pitch to. If you don’t do your homework and study about the client’s products, history, clientele etc then you won’t be able to incorporate specific solutions to the problems that the client is facing. Your preparedness reflects your diligence and hard-work, and goes in a long way to build a lasting first impression.

6. YOUR PRESENTATION SKILLS NEED WORK

All boils down to zero even if you did your research to gauge as much as you can about the prospective client’s industry, products, and market segment but couldn’t present it well.

The confidence that you have while presenting your pitch is the key here. You should look like a person who can do what they are saying, and have proof of doing it in the past. All your claims need to be backed up by data, and yes, style matters!

7. YOU DON’T FULFILL CLIENT’S EXPECTATIONS

You may be a SEO specialist agency, but your client might be looking for an all-in-one agency or something like that. This is a situation which you won’t have control over most of the times, but you should be well prepared nonetheless. Generally big companies prefer to have specialist companies for their requirements, while small companies prefer a one-stop-solution. So, take this into account while pitching to your next client, and collaborate with some freelancers to expand your service offering so that you can get hired by more companies.

8. YOU LACK PERSISTENT FOLLOW-UP

Your pitch doesn’t end up after the presentation that you gave. In most cases the client receives pitches from more than one agency and has to select the best. Even if that is not the case, the decision might take up time depending on the company. You must be regularly in touch with their representative to ensure that all the doubts they are having are cleared upfront

9. YOU CAN’T CONNECT EMOTIONALLY

It’s not possible to completely satisfy the client’s expectations. Even if you have, there are still chances someone else is better than you in technical skills and portfolio of clients. In any case, you need to understand the importance of connecting emotionally with the client.

Do your research about the people you’ll be facing in the meeting or presentation. Learn about them on social media and identify common friends, hobbies and interests before meeting. You’ll see the difference in the way you bond with your clients. But, first things first, sweep them off their feet with your stunning presentation before going for the emotional bonding.

It can be really frustrating for businesses when they are not able to get new clients onboard and it hampers the growth and confidence of the company. Marketing agencies often hit such dry patches and need to identify the root cause of this situation.

If you are going through such a situation, keep your spirits high and take your time to build your way to the top, one step at a time.

Jason is a technical writer currently associated with ProProfs Chat. He enjoys writing about emerging customer support products, trends in customer support industry and the financial impacts of using such tools. In his spare time, Jason likes traveling extensively to learn about new cultures and traditions.